Traveling barricade



Dec. 9, 1969 J A. ANGELLQ 3,482,820

TRAVELING BARRICADE Filed Sept. 11, 1958 United States Patent "ice 3,482,820 TRAVELING BARRICADE John A. Angello, 10 Candy Lane, Mission Hills, Calif. 91340 Filed Sept. 11, 1968, Ser. No. 759,028 Int. Cl. E04h 17/00; E01f 9/10; G08b /00 US. Cl. 256-64 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A traveling barricade in which a plurality of elongated tubular units are pivotally coupled end-to-end and supported at spaced intervals on wheeled carriage means. The longitudinal axis of the units, when formed to a line, is canted with respect to the rotational axes of the wheels by setting the longitudinal axis of each supported unit obliquely with respect to the rotational wheel axis of the carriage supporting it, thereby gradually directing traffic from one lane to another. Flags are supported in extension from the carriage means and/ or from the elongated units and can serve as pivots for the couplings between adjacent units.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The field of art to which theinvention pertains includes the field of trafiic guides and street markers.

Description of the prior art In the maintenance and repair of highways, it is often necessary to park a repair vehicle or other equipment on the roadway in interference with traffic. Safety requires that appropriate warning devices be placed on the highway a sufficient distance from the work site to timely warn motorists of the danger and to guide them in avoiding it. Such devices are also required by the Vehicle Code Regulations of most of the states, the distance of warning required ranging from 50 ft. to 550 ft. or more depending upon conditions. When the repair is to be made or maintenance is such that progressive movement along the highway is required, e.g., when repairing the SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a warning device that can be utilized when making progressive repairs or maintenance along a highway and which does not require manual movement of individual sections but which can follow the contours of the road. A movable barricade is provided comprising a plurality of elongated units, means providing articulation between the units, and a plurality of wheeled carriage means supporting the units at spaced intervals. The longitudinal axis of the units, when formed to a line, is canted with respect to the rotational axis of the carriage wheels. Each supported unit is set obliquely with respect to the rotational wheel axis of the carriage supporting it. Each carriage means can comprise a frame having supporting wheels at opposite ends thereof and means can be included on the frame for supporting a warning flag in extension therefrom.

Articulation is provided by pivotal couplings between ends of adjacent units, the coupling permitting horizontal fiexure thereof with the wheeled carriage means spaced from the unit ends. The pivotal couplings can each comprise overlapping ends of adjacent units, the ends defining aligned apertures, and a pivot through the apertures. The pivot can support a flag in extension from the coupling.

3,482,820 Patented Dec. 9, 1969 In specific embodiments, the barricade units comprise tubular members pivotally coupled end-to-end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention and illustrates a complete barricade unit coupled to portions of adjacent units;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of a pivotal coupling utilized in this invention;

FIGURE 3 is a schematic view of the barricade of FIGURE 1 being towed by a vehicle along a highway;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view of a wheeled carriage utilized in an alternative embodiment of this invention; and

FIGURE 5 is a schematic view of the barricade of FIGURE 4 being towed by a vehicle along a highway.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGURES l and 2, the barricade is constructed of a plurality of elongated units 10, 10a, 10b, etc., which can be aluminum tubing, or other such pipe, approximately 1%" in diameter and about 20 ft. long. Each unit 10 is supported on a wheeled carriage 11 and has opposite male and female coupling portions which can be seen in beter detail in FIGURE 2. One end of the tubular unit 10 has a slot 12 cut therethrough and apertures 1'4 and 16 through the slot edges. The adjacent end of the next succeeding unit 10a (as is) the opposite end of that unit 10 is pressed flat into a tenon 18 for pivotal insertion within the slot 12. An aperture 20 is provided in the tenon 18 in alignment with the slot edge apertures 14 and 16. A support shaft 22 for a warning flag 24 can be inserted through the aligned apertures 14, 16 and 20 to act as a pivot for the coupling. A retaining ring 24 welded a few inches from the bottom of the flag shaft 22 prevents the fiag shaft 22 from falling through the apertures 14, 16 and 20.

A pair of wheels 28 and 30 are rotatably secured on an axle 32 disposed beneath an opening 26 defined at the center of the tubular unit 10. A hollow tube 34 extends upwardly from the axle 32 and through the opening 26. The hollow tube has a depression 36 running along its length which is keyed to a corresponding projecting portion 38 from the tubular unit 10. Such keying allows the carriage axle 32 to be accurately positioned with respect to the longitudinal axis of the tubular unit 10. The support shaft 40 for a warning flag 42 can be inserted within the hollow tube 34.

The tube 34 is attached to the axle 32 in such manner that when it is inserted properly keyed in the unit opening 26, the wheels are canted with respect to the longitudinal axis of the unit 10. The extent of canting can be fixed by welding the tube 34 to the axle 32 or, alternatively, means can be provided for adjusta'bly securing the tube 34 to the axle 32 to provide any desired cant angle. Canting can alternatively be obtained by setting the wheels 28 and 30 obliquely on the axle 32, in which case the hollow tube 34 can be keyed so that the axle 32 is normal to the longitudinal axis of the tubular unit 10. Means can be provided to adjust the oblique setting of the wheels 28 and 30. I

The effect of canting can be seen with reference to FIGURE 3. The traveling barricade is pivotally attached, at 44, to the rear of a truck 46 which pulls the barricade along the edge of a highway 48. The canting of the wheeled carriages 11 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the aligned tubular units 10 results in the barrier gradually guiding trafiic toward the left-hand side of the road. The greater the degree of canting, the less gradual the displacement of trafiic. The desirable extent of canting depends upon several factors including the speed of 3 traffic and the number of lanes to be closed. On roads with low posted speeds, only two or three units may be required and canting would then be relatively large, e.g., 25 degrees from perpendicular. On high speed roadways where up to 500 or more feet of approach are required, 30 or more, units may be required and the angle of cant can be low as 13 degrees from the perpendicular. With the lowest cant angles, accurate alignment is required, but is readily achievable with modern manufacturing methods. If the canting angle is adjustable, an appropriate adjustment can be made after the units have been coupled to obtain the desired inclination.

Referring to FIGURE 4, an alternative wheeled carriage is illustrated and includes a tubular transverse frame 52 having its ends shaped into axles 54 and 56 for a pair of wheels 58 and 60 supporting the frame 62 at its opposite ends. A portion on the left-hand side of the tubular frame 52 is extended upwardly to form a hollow tube 62 which is adapted to receive a flag staff 64 therein. The flag staff 64 is angled to sit within the tube 62 to extend a flag 66 thereon outboard of the lefthand wheel 58.

On the right-hand side of the tubular frame 52, a U-shaped retainer member 70 is welded, at 72, to a bolt 74 therethrough. The bolt 74 extends through a bearing plate 76 on one side of the tubular frame 52, through a hole 78 in the frame 52 and is securely fastened to the frame 52 by means of a nut 80 thereat.

The bolt 74 extends several inches upwardly from the retainer member 70. When it is desired to use the apparatus, a length of pipe 82 having an aperture 84 therethrough can be placed on the retainer member 70 with the bolt 74 extending through the aperture 84. The pipe 82 can be identical to the tubular units 10 described with reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, retention being through the center openings 26 in those units 10. As noted, the retainer member 70 can be welded, as at 72, to the hearing plate 76. The bearing plate 76 can be semi-cylindrical to securely fit over the tubular frame 52 to thereby define the angle of cant. Alternatively, the retainer member 70 can be adjustably secured to the bearing plate 76 to allow a change in cant angle. The extent of canting is determined as previously described.

Referring to FIGURE 5, a plurality of the wheeled carriages 50 of FIGURE 4 are shown supporting a plurality of pipe units 82. The pipe units 82 are pivotally coupled end-to-end in the manner described with reference to FIGURE 2 and are pulled, through a flexible coupling 88, by a moving vehicle to provide a traveling barricade that gradually directs trafiic from one lane to another.

With each of the described embodiments, fiexure at means for providing articulation between saidunits;

a plurality of wheeled carriage means for supporting said units at spaced intervals; and

means setting the longitudinal axis of each supported unit obliquely with respect to the rotational wheel axi of the carriage supporting it.

2. The barricade of claim 1 wherein each carriage means comprises a frame having supporting wheels at opposite ends thereof and said setting means comprises means on each frame for supporting one of said units obliquely with respect to the rotational axis of said supporting wheels.

3. The barricade of claim 2 including means on said frame for su porting a flag in extension therefrom.

4. The barricade of claim 1 wherein said means providing articulation comprises pivotal couplings between ends of adjacent units, said couplings permitting horizontal flexure of said line.

5. The barricade of claim 4 wherein each pivotal coupling'comprises overlapping ends of adjacent units, said ends defining aligned apertures, and a pivot through said apertures said pivot supporting a flag in extension from said coupling.

6.,The barricade of claim 4 wherein said carriage means are spaced from said ends.

7. The barricade of claim 1 wherein said units cornprise-tubular members pivotally coupled end-to-end.

8. The barricade of claim 1 including means on said units for supporting a flag in extension therefrom.

9. The barricade of claim 1 wherein said setting means are formed to set the longitudinal axis of each supported unit from about 1 to about 25 degrees from a line drawn perpendicularly to said rotational wheel axis.

10. The barricade of claim 1 including motive means for moving said barricade along a roadway, said setting means being formed so that as said motive means travels in a path parallel to an edge of said roadway, said barricade travels at a constant obtuse angle to said path to thereby present a gradual traffic guide away from said roadway edge in the direction of said travel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1935 France.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 11663 

